I Bought An “easy fix” V10 BMW M5 From Facebook Marketplace, Here’s How Stupid I Was 

I decided to ship the car to Troy Jeup, a reputable M5 engine builder, then when I get it back I'll continue troubleshooting the other issues.

I've made a lot of mistakes in my life. V10 BMWs were not one of them 😂

BMW has an official procedure for the stuck lifter - The procedure for addressing a stuck or noisy hydraulic lifter in a BMW involves a hydraulic valve adjuster (HVA) bleeding process. Here are the steps: Preconditions: Ensure the engine oil level is neither underfilled nor overfilled and the engine is running at operating temperature. Bleeding Process: Increase the engine's operating speed to 2000-3000 RPM (no load) and maintain this for three minutes. Let the engine idle for 15-30 seconds and then check if the noise is still present. Repetition if Necessary: If the noise persists, repeat the steps above up to a maximum of five times. If the noise remains after five attempts, perform the bleeding process one final time for a total duration of 15 minutes at the same RPM range. This procedure should be conducted on a level surface in a well-ventilated area. The bleeding time can vary from a minimum of two minutes to a maximum of 30 minutes, depending on the severity of the issue​

The Chihuahua analogy was pretty accurate, As long as these cars are maintained and have extra clearance rod bearings installed they are ok for reliability. Most owners who buy these don’t expect to pay M car part prices and then neglect and dump the cars

I've owned about 10 BMWs, including a few known to have bearing problems. Based on the frequency of the sound at idle my gut says it's a lifter sound first, rod-knock second. In any case, that's a LOT of ugly metal flakes in the oil filter housing. I did bearings on the S65 (similar bottom end of the S85, just two cylinders cut off) and mine were nearly toast. Didn't spin a bearing, but they were down to the copper and out of tolerance by a considerable margin. There was nowhere near that much copper or shiny metal. That amount looks very suspect/strange. If it were me, I'd put up the money to service the rod bearings regardless to try and save the crankshaft and rest of the engine from eating itself in the future. I'd like to see more M5 content here. Let's say you put 10-12,000 into the car between bearings and handling its deferred maintenance, you'd still be doing alright on the deal in my opinion as most SMG M5s are trading between 17 and 25,000.

I love how candid and straightforward you are, especially in your titles 😂

Sounds like Vanos solenoids. Might as well come if you have little to little oil in it. Rod knock sounds more solid, this is definitely from the little things in the head, like Vanos or lifter.

Let it idle, video it, play back 10 seconds and count the taps, Multiple by 6. Does the math equal the idle RPM (or close)? Then it’s a rod. Or does it equal half of the idle rpm? Then it’s valvetrain. Sounded like a rod in the video but didn’t seem fast enough.

I bought one of these in college with all my money and it had a manual 6 speed. 100k miles all stock i put a straight pipe on it.. can say a teen in an m5 was epic, I learned to drift, rev match, double clutch and never lost a race on the freeway even against bikes. Nothing like straight piped v10 doing rolling burnouts down college boulevard with no fear about anything. Never had issues, sold it before anything bad happened, Best experience of my life. 🏁

My bmw had an issue that caused it to sit for a while. After I fixed it, I had a noisy lifter on the first start up. It sounded exactly like this M5. My noise went away on the first drive and never came back

Those cars have a power control module that is notorious for causing endless electrical gremlins, no start issues, and all sorts of problems. It costs about $100 for a brand new one. I suggest replacing it now to save you loads of time diagnosing in the future. Its located near the pcm/DME under the hood. You should also run the factory AGM BMW battery only. Then register the battery in the car’s computer afterwards. They are the most electronically temperamental cars on the planet

Mentioned before, but that looks like Liquid Moly Ceratec additive, not copper - that'd be way too much. Search "Project Farm Ceratec" to see what it looks like, or the video from Liquid Moly. Only way to know for sure would be a blackstone oil analysis with 1) fresh oil mixed with Ceratec, AND 2) your engine oil pictured in the video. (Reason for fresh oil/Ceratec mix is we don't know that there isn't copper in the formula, couldnt find anything on the MDS sheet). The RATTLING could be lifter as stated in video OR as simple as a failed VANOS solenoid. OR it could be as bad as the internal vanos line bursted, vanos pump itself, VANOS plungers (large end piece cap on each bank)- these all would lead to a loss of vanos pressure, give slack in the timing, and throw that noise. I suppose it could be timing guide/chain related but that would be not very common. Rich - all the vanos solenoids are the same. There are 4 and not hard to swap. If you bought just one, you could swap out each one at a time with the new one, and see if the sound goes away. This is the easiest thing I can think of. However - ISTA software, or Bimmer Protools is a must to have with these

Sretten did his rod bearings on 539 Restorations. Did not look like a crazy repair. Time consuming, sure, but doable.

Copper in the oil filter, definitely drop oil pan and check bearings and rods.

Love these journeys Rich, thanks for taking us for the ride bro

These cars are definitely hidden gems for certain people. The rod bearings, plastic guides, vanos issues, can all be fixed fairly easily IF you catch them in time. The bearings are actually very easy to replace without removing the engine from the bay. If you're the type of person that has some mechanical abilities and find one that isn't too far gone, these are a great budget performance vehicle. The performance for dollar you can get in this car is unmatched if you can handle the issues on your own. That said, they can also be huge money pits for the wrong person, or if serious machining is needed. For those who know what I'm saying, then you already know. For those who don't, just stay away from them! I would definitely buy another one, but not just any one...

All I want for X-mas is Stevon playing the slide flute.

Seeing the van reminds me how much I miss Stevon. You two played off each other so well in these videos. I'd like to get an update. Did he fully recover from the viper crash? I believe on his social media he said he was travelling the world while deciding next steps.

Copper = rod bearings done. You are correct about that. When you start getting copper that means the coating on the bearings is gone.

That van makes me miss stevon. that was one of the best series, besides the quad, ice t, model d and side by side, and that C4 CORVETTE that never showed up again WTF

That copper looking stuff is Liqui Moly Cera Tec. It's an engine oil additive, and I swear it looks the same.

Bring back Stevon

I've owned 4 of them and recently sold one. (Down to 3). I've done several rod bearing jobs on other people's vehicles and rebuilt one V10 from the ground up. Swapped the crank due to rod bearing failure. About to build a 5.8 Stroker on my 07 M5. Besides having a stuck lifter, another issue could be a broken valve spring which is making that noise. I'd also check for vanos codes and see if the vanos pump is putting out the correct amount of pressure. I've had one engine tap like that randomly from each head because of an internal vanos line leaking. May also need to run a vanos bleed since it's been sitting for so long. Let me know if you have any additional questions.

The "Steven locator" on the square space ad 😂😂😂

rich looked not even a little bit genuine about the van

Pls bring back Stevon on the show. Seems like he brought all the humor inside.

That door chime gives me chills when I hear it. (Never buy a BMW that does not start. No matter how low the price!)

I had a 2008 just sold It and totally regret it! No issues and the car runs insane cant wait to own another 1

I see your 4th tab in your squarespace ad - "stevon locator" lol

4:45 my e60 550i headrests have charges in them similar to airbags. They bring the headrest to the head in the event of a rear end collision to prevent whiplash. I assume the m5 is no different.

One thing you can do that's VERY easy is disable a coil one at a time. If the noise quiets down significantly when ONLY ONE of the coils is disabled then that's the cylinder with the bad rod bearing. Basically when you take the combustion force off a cylinder with a bad rod bearing it doesn't have the force knocking that rod around at the base anymore so becomes much quieter. Where as a lifter will continue to tick no matter what, even if that cylinder ignition is disabled. I've replaced these engines before for the rod bearing issue, many of us BMW techs have. When you hear the *double tap* (not single tap) noise like in the video and have THAT amount of glitter in the oil filter cap bottom....it's a rod bearing. I bet if you take the oil pan off you will have all kinds of material in it. Note: you can't really get a camera into that oil pan because it's baffled so don't bother.

I say keep the BMW, its good content, we like seeing you troubleshoot

That is 100% a rod bearing noise. It comes and goes when its idling which a valve train noise will not. Personally, i would cancel cylinders one by one and see if the noise goes away with one cylinder. If it does, more than likely rod bearing noise. You might still be able to roll new bearings in to it and polish the crank journal before assembly. Love these cars so much, but they just do this to you every time. Good luck Rich.

Local BMW dealership filled up my Z4 trunk with water( gotta luv the free car wash...faulty drains seem to be a feature), in the process of quoting me $4k to and two months replace the hydraulic motor for the convertible top. A guy in Washington, rebuilt mine in a week round trip with better seals than come in it new, for $600.

I sold my 6MT with 87K, zero mechanical codes, some hail damage and 15-yo car maintenance issues for $12K two years ago. For $7K and an SMG, you got ripped. I do miss driving that car, but the constant issues, from locks that wouldn't unlock to reduced performance conditions all the time were just too much.

That exhaust is why you should fix it 🎶👂

I had the misfortune of owning one a few years ago. A lot of trouble from the outset. I'll list the problems: 1)Second gear synchro wore out and needed changing. 2) fuel evaporation system failed and sucked all the air out of the tank and crushed the fuel sender unit and broke the venturi balancing of the tank. 3) ECU failed due to a rusty pin. 4) spark detection module failed 5)Engine crank seal 6) Diff seal 7) clutch issues I managed to sort out all of the above except the clutch issues because at that point I was fed up with it. I part exchanged it for another car and got around £7k for it. I will say that when it was working it was awesome.

That tapping sounds like the telegraph operator on the Titanic.

The vanos runs on oil pressure and will cause a tap it cause from not changing the oil and its dirty and takes running the engine to temp giving it the beans wash that crap out change the oil again and check for debris in the filter

Where is Stevon we miss him and the real builds

You consulted Sreten (M539) and I would trust his advice, he’s the guru on older, decrepit BMWs. Good luck with that beast!

Literally just got done doing rod bearings and adjusting valve shims of S54. Ended up missing a shim on cyl #6 and it was making a very similar noise. You can tell by the fast repitition and the higher frequency. More of a clank than a thunk. Thunk would be mains or rods. If it has hydraulic lifters then a 'spirited' drive might free them up, but if I had no idea of cars history I would pull the valve cover and inspect lifters before driving it hard. Also, people are idiots. Metal shards in oil isn't normal. A few from wear and tear maybe, but not what you've got going on with that M5. Chances are the rod bearings need to be done soon. Good luck.

Throw some Seafoam in the engine oil and see if the clicking goes away. That stuff works great for sticking valves and is cheap to purchase.

Those browser tabs made me smile.

I forgot about the 🤡 👟. I heard the money leaving as soon as you cranked it. That knock was crazy I'm no expert at all but there's a reason you paid 7000 for it. Glad the van has a new home.

👍 hope copper is just additive and noise is temp and fixes itself.

I can’t believe you’re selling the beautiful Lenada’s home!

E60 is pretty bad on all accounts. the last good m5 was obviously the e39. E90 is IMO the last true powerful and exciting BMW that's made to last. People complained my 335i was expensive to maintain but never had to do anything on it except when the ex-owner forgot to put the oil filter funnel back in and engine blew up had to be changed. Full power, twin turbos, 120,000 miles average run for the turbos and a lot more for the engine. If you want a reliable car, BMWs are amazing. It's stunning they have a bad reputation after 20 years of degrading performance from all other brands. Of course if you look only at the V8s it's not so good. I got it out of my system just using a 3 liter 335 that got it's power from turbos - a lot more potential than just V8. If you need a bmw reliable just get a 6L engine can't go wrong. If you need to waste your time then sure go the Rich way and find a craigslist M5

It is that big of a deal. Pull the pan and check the bearings. That is not normal. Thats the VANOS tapping. You could try a vanos bleed and pray. I seriously doubt it's lifter tick. My offer is 150.00 cash/dollar bills. Could probably come up with Pesos as well.

Browser tab gang is back! What were the "Stevon Locator" search results?

Love how the car youtubers work with each other along with some top bants : )

if the Cooper seen anywhere it is an issue with bearings. take oil pan down and look for for them. it doesn't require to take of cylinders and rods. the bearings could come off without opening the top of the engine block(without getting cylinder heads out from the engine)

Compression test. . . The V10's are notorious. They'll shut down one bank and revert to limp mode. Drop an LS lump in it.

My VW W12 Phaeton taps too, but I start it like once every 8 months. But once it runs for a while and I take it for a long drive it goes away. I have another friend and their W12 was like that too. He was a bit more aggressive and would just floor it around town and it would go away quicker LOL, I'm a bit more gentle.

Good ole Italian tune up couldn't hurt!

10w60 is the problem here. In most cases you should follow manufacturers recommendation, but probably not here, especially since you can already see metal shavings. I would probably put the thickest 5w50 I could find in it, personally. And yeah, there's quite a bit of variance between different brands for same grade oil thickness. Not enough to be different grade, but still quite a lot. But the issue here is viscosity when cold. At anything other than hot summer day you get accelerated wear and if someone boots it while engine not fully up to temp, very easy to spin a bearing.

Sounds like the flywheel tooth. Look at the flywheel waveform to see If it has an extra peak. I had one for two years. Spent more time working on it than driving it. Might get it to run good, but you'll still always be chasing codes.

Camera looking a lil weird halfway through. Turned random spots green. Not sure if it’s just me

That flute looks like it was abandoned. Will it ever play again?

damn the van looks nice for this time of the year.. Maybe clear the codes on the M and if it's still the same take off the cylinder heads to look inside... if the bearings are shot, it's over. alternatively I think you can stick a "surgical" camera (don't know from where) and avoid taking them off.

I love how theres always that hope that maybe you can rev the sound away 😅

It's 100% a stuck lifter. Yes drive it around, maybe an hour. It will return to normal.

RichRebuilds secretly gunning to top Jay Leno car count.

goddamn, your bmw shenanigans has made me make several thoursand squarespace websites.... thank you for that

again adding a 3rd comment, when we "engine swap" a bmw that has sat, we (do oil etc, ccv, seals yada yada ofc) once its going, we warm it up. and hold the RPM to 2000rpm for around 5 min, then 2500, then 3k, upto 4k (in 500 increments) to BLEED the lifters down. "should" do the trick. hasnt failed me yet. sounds harsh, but if you go read (it works) like magic for most cars with "hydraulic" lifters. if its not a lifter, then it could be a coil pack. but these are pencil coils so im not suer. as the usual style you could place a hand on those and feel them pecking your hand. however, im going to bet its lifter tick. as my bmw does this after its sat for months as the lifters well...ill not go into that. but yea man for the most part it sounds good to me (even with the copper in the oil) just drive it, or bleed the lifters.

Nice. M539 is learning fast and now building engines, but has not yet done an S85 other than maintenance. Rod bearing and VANOS are unfortunately maintenance and I do love M539 channel. How do people get in contact with Troy? Think he is in MI and one of the best persons with knowledge and experience on the S85 in the world! P-Chi

Definitely rod bearing issue, quite easy fix. Straiten and going crankshaft, find bearing to size, put everything back and good to go

About the oil..I've used liquid head gasket fixer that is copper solution. Looked the same..

I wish I could help you. However, I have a 2010 528i xdrive with the n52 inline 6 and a manual transmission. I was told by a BMW specialist shop (up in jersey, where I bought it) that e60s are very finicky when it comes to having the right battery because BMW. IDK. I followed his advice. Went to bmw and bit the very expensive bullet and got their battery . All of my lights on the dash went away after driving it for a while. Made the trip from jersey down to Central Florida without a problem. Now I'm just trying to do all the maintenance and fight the light rust issues it came with. Other than that, it's been a great buy. I probably spent too much on it a few months ago. Hope you keep it and restore it to its former glory. Too bad it's an automatic. The manuals are better IMO. Good luck, Rich! Love your channel!

I had an E60 and it started making the same exact sound and it had less than 100k miles. That's when I said this thing has got to go. Got rid of it and swore off BMW. The only way I'd get another one is if it's a new lease. That way if it breaks, they have to pay for it.

1:25

The good news is, that in order to replace the lifters (which is 100% the noise you are hearing and no, they won't magically fix themselves), you need to remove the VANOS first. So at least you won't have to do double the labor to fix them both.

The battery that never needs to be jumped lol Keep the BMW get it done and appreciate its power.

Absolutely bearing material unfortunately. That is an excessive amount, the S85 V10s bearings are CONSUMABLES, late down the line, you are intended to replace the bearings every 50K miles. Later bearings were made from Tin-Aluminum, early M5's / original bearings are made of copper, but still suffered issues and did a better job at masking the issue. - The bearings are likely original and absolutely fried, some flake, specifically silver is normal, but very fine particles AND also large particles along with being able to physically collect it to the touch is a sign of imminate destruction and in need of immediate replacement. - Your best bet which will save you a substantial headache is to simply drop the engine and refresh it. New rod bearings with greater clearances, new High pressure VANOS lines, VANOS refresh, VANOS oil pump rebuild, new timing chains and guides, gaskets everywhere, spark plugs and coils, and throttle actuators. - While you are at it, refresh the SMG Transmission with a new SMG pump and new clutch.

Reminds me of my E39 Touring "easy fix" project. Boy oh boy did I loved my 540i with all my heart, yet all I've got in return was more expensive parts to buy/swap. And the clicking is most likely vanos, smells like full rebuild to my ear.

When can it be good to find bearing substrate material in your oil filter?

Stevon is sorely missed, enough filler videos

I just purchased the Carbon Ridge Wallet using your link in the description. It is a gift for my son, hopefully he can grow up and be cool like you! Ha ha, thanks for the great content over the years.

If i recall correctly, BMW had a team of sound engineers create the door chime noise.

The free tools made it all worth it

How is that engine bay sooooo rusty? What happened to that poor car.

6:45 Take a razor knife cut a large section of media out, fold it back together then wrap it in a clean cloth. Put it in the vise and lightly squeeze the oil out and then you can see exactly whats in there

Sounds like a rod knock, I say the lower end needs to be rebuilt at least but with all that copper in the oil filter housing it could use a total rebuild.

just when i thought we needed some Lynda we got some now we just need Stevon back too

Sounds like Uncle Rodney came to town early this Christmas.

I spoke to a Mechanic a while back and he told me the best way to solve an issue when a car is throwing a shit ton of codes is by troubleshooting the lowest value code first since that can be the reason for the higher code to be popping up

I’m disappointed that Rich wants out of the M5, though I’m not surprised. I knew the time and money involved in an M-car would scare Rich away. I saw that Rich wasn’t as mechanically gifted as he is in vlogging by the way he glossed over the transmission of the V8 Tesla, (that he probably completely outsourced all together.)

Never heard of the antigravity batteries. Very cool

Direct Injector cleaning? Sonic cleaning.

Not going to lie that blackstone oil test is a waste of time if u buy the car just go ahead and change to BE- Bearings and apr bolts and be satisfy with your self cause u can’t trust ppl even if they show u a receipt that they did it. If you didn’t do it it’s not done

I did the rod bearings on my S54 and good thing I did as they were all wiped out!!!! If you are doing this on the v10 that would be a great build..

What is common on the BMW engines - Perform ones, is that Nano cylinder lining breaks down prematurely. You are going to have change the front timing guides and maybe the chain.

Rich, would love to see you take a hybrid bmw 530e or similar that has like 25 mile range and upgrade or swap the battery to make it get an increase in range - not sure if 75 mile range would be possible

This motor sounds like what most BMW’s, if still running, sound like. A less costly softer sound is throwing 100 bills into the wind out of the window of the tow truck.

The copper is like oil in a harley, if you're seeing it it means it's there, once you stop seeing it, that's when you worry

Imagine being one of those people that pretend 20 year old V10 BMW's are reliable. That hot garbage was awful even when they were new. The V10's nuked themselves from day one.

Just hearing the door buzzer made me angry. 😂

It’s rods, mine did that at 75k miles. Same deal, but mine only sat for a year as well

It appears you didn't realize this is a PORTABLE Solar powered EV charger that can be moved. Who knows why they dropped it there. A positive take on it might be there weren't any chargers nearby for tourists so they put one there.

Would love to see this one completed - I've been able to own several older BMWs through the years, and my e60 545 was by far my favorite and the most fun to drive